Favorite project ever! I probably say that a lot, but this one might take the top spot for a while — especially among small, easy projects. (Our sunroom renovation and Teddy’s built-ins could have challenged it if this had been a heavy-duty upgrade, but this was delightfully simple.) Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Clara’s closet:
I’d been mulling over the idea of covering the back wall of Clara’s closet with something playful for quite some time. Images like the ones that inspired this project made me want to create a cozy, secret nook inside her room. Shortly after we moved in she declared the closet her favorite spot in the house — she spends a lot of time playing back there with her dollhouse and a few other toys. Most of her clothes live in a six-drawer dresser, so only a handful of items hang in the closet. The space is generous too: a deep closet about 6.5 feet deep and 4 feet wide.
I initially thought wallpaper or a stencil would be the way to go, but then we found a fabric — Peaceful Perch by Waverly — at a local fabric shop and it felt perfect. Clara was with us in the store and immediately pressed her face to the fabric, whispering that she loved the birds. That was all the confirmation I needed.
I bought three yards, enough to cover the wall from floor to ceiling with some wiggle room. The bolt’s width matched the closet’s back wall, so it would be a single continuous piece — ideal. When we got home, Clara dashed into the living room ten minutes later and shouted, “YAY! DID YOU MAKE MY CLOSET PRETTY? I can’t wait to see it!” She’d never seen a fabric-covered wall before, and neither had I.
The whole install ended up being much quicker than I expected. It took roughly an hour and a half to adhere the fabric to the back wall and another half hour to trim and finish the edges. It’s the sort of project you can do in short bursts between errands or feedings — in my case, between feeding a three-month-old. Cost-wise, it was simple: fabric, a staple gun, some fabric glue, and a ribbon for trim.
The first step was emptying the closet entirely.
I removed everything, including the shelves and hanging bars, so I could access every nook and corner along the back wall.
Working from a step ladder with a staple gun, I started in the top right corner and stapled the fabric around the perimeter of the back wall. I stapled every few inches, keeping the fabric pulled tight and smoothing out any wrinkles as I went. Because I left the fabric untrimmed when I started, I could work my way down and across without worrying about running out of material. That approach kept everything straight and taut.
The fabric’s large, free-form print made the job forgiving — there wasn’t a need to obsess over exact alignment like you might with stripes or geometric patterns. I focused on tension and even stapling around the edges.
I even wrapped the fabric cleanly around the shelf board at the back of the closet and stapled it on the sides so the shelf looked finished.
One caution: if you have excess fabric in a tucked or angled area, don’t accidentally staple it behind itself. I nearly did a few times. If you do mess up, staples can usually be eased out with a flat-head screwdriver and the fabric re-positioned.
I pulled staples out and re-stapled a few spots when I noticed small creases or bubbles. It’s easy enough to tweak until you like the look.
After finishing the perimeter stapling (victory dance mandatory), I used an X-Acto knife to carefully trim the excess fabric along the edges. A fresh blade helps get a clean cut. I aimed to cut through the fabric without gouging the drywall. Since I planned to add a trim ribbon, a little extra pressure into the corner wouldn’t be noticeable, but mostly I could slice through the fabric without damaging the wall.
Next came the trim ribbon to give the edges a polished finish. We tried several options and settled on a soft pink ribbon because it blended naturally with the wall color and didn’t compete with the bold fabric pattern. We didn’t have enough on hand, so I picked up two six-yard spools and some fabric glue (Aileen’s Fabric Fusion) to attach the ribbon.
I ran a thin bead of glue along the wall edge and pressed pre-cut ribbon pieces into place around the perimeter.
Here’s the finished result:
The glue dried within about an hour, then I reinstalled the shelves and hanging rods. The closet felt instantly transformed.
Clara is thrilled with it.
Mom and dad like it too. The dog and baby are indifferent, but I’ll take the good reviews from the humans.
What I love most is how simple the project was versus how finished and polished it looks. A lot of visitors thought it was wallpaper until they touched it and realized it was fabric — which is exactly the effect I wanted.
Small, doable projects like this are so satisfying — especially when you can squeeze them into short windows of time between parenting duties. We managed a little hiking over the weekend too, which had its own memorable moments, but this closet refresh was definitely a highlight.
Update – Want to know where we bought something or what paint colors we used? Check our shop for details on items from around the house.